The coastline of New Jersey is approximately 130 miles and has three different shoreline types. The shore is mostly composed of gravel, sand and silt deposits. The sediment is not cemented to form bedrock as in New England. Since the geologic layers are not lithified, they erode easily. (New Jersey Geologic History, 2013). Shore protection is an important part of living in New Jersey. Protection becomes a science of strategies, methods and structures to live safely with the geographic instability of the coast. Of the 130.2 miles of coastline only 31.2 miles has no human development. New Jersey has the highest percentage of rebuilt coastline in the nation.
There have been manmade solutions for the erosion problem, timber bulkheads, and brush piles, rocks transported to the coast to make seawalls or jetties. Recent hurricanes have changed thinking in a lot of the shore towns. In Ocean and Monmouth counties, that saw much of the damage from Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, it was noticed that the coast that had large sand dunes did better than where there were no dunes or small dunes. According to articles published in the Star Ledger, areas where dunes were high and wide, little damage occurred. Areas where there were low or narrow dunes were destroyed by the force of the ocean during a hurricane (Spoto, 2012).
Upon further investigation by the Department of Environmental protection, it was found that the beaches built by the Army Corp of Engineers, contracted from 1994, held up well as well as dunes that formed naturally by wind over time as in the town of Barnegat Light on Long Beach Island (Sporto, 2012).
Dunes are made from sand and gravel from inland areas and placed on the beaches. The Army Corps of Engineers assesses the need and contracts the work. Many dune projects are under way in New Jersey after hurricane Sandy. The areas are Lower Cape May, Brigantine, Ocean City, Avalon and Stone Harbor in the South and Manaloking, Long Beach Island and Toms River in the north.
Much controversy has arisen from dune projects. The dunes need to be built on private property in most cases. The owners of these properties for the most part are cooperative. There are a handful of objectors. Their concerns range from obstruction of their view to a fear that once the easement is granted, a boardwalk and bathrooms will follow. In some shore towns, neighbors have begun fighting and publicly embarrassing the home owners that will not allow access to their land. The issue becomes property rights verses public good. If the dunes are not enlarged, more people will lose their property in the next storm. The New Jersey Superior Court has ruled that towns can take the property under eminent domain if the homeowner refused to cooperate (Zernike, 2013).
Whatever the outcome of this debate, one thing is for sure, there will be another storm. A common misconception is the 100 year storm. This does not mean it will come every hundred years, it means that there is a one percent chance of a storm that size.
After hurricane Sandy, the Jersey shore moved to a 2 percent chance of having the same storm. If we choose to live by the sea, we must plan accordingly and respect the power of our environment.
New Jersey Geologic History. (2013). Retrieved October 29, 2013, from Stockton.edu: http://intraweb.stockton.edu/eyos/page.efm?siteID=149&pageID=3 Spoto, M. (2012, 11 18). Dune size determined extent of storm damage to NJ beaches. The Star Ledger. Zernike, K. (2013, September 4). Trying to Shame Dune Holdouts at the Jersey Shore. The New York Times.
Jersey Shore Sand Dunes
The coastline of New Jersey is approximately 130 miles and has three different shoreline types. The shore is mostly composed of gravel, sand and silt deposits. The sediment is not cemented to form bedrock as in New England. Since the geologic layers are not lithified, they erode easily. (New Jersey Geologic History, 2013). Shore protection is an important part of living in New Jersey. Protection becomes a science of strategies, methods and structures to live safely with the geographic instability of the coast. Of the 130.2 miles of coastline only 31.2 miles has no human development. New Jersey has the highest percentage of rebuilt coastline in the nation.
There have been manmade solutions for the erosion problem, timber bulkheads, and brush piles, rocks transported to the coast to make seawalls or jetties. Recent hurricanes have changed thinking in a lot of the shore towns. In Ocean and Monmouth counties, that saw much of the damage from Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, it was noticed that the coast that had large sand dunes did better than where there were no dunes or small dunes. According to articles published in the Star Ledger, areas where dunes were high and wide, little damage occurred. Areas where there were low or narrow dunes were destroyed by the force of the ocean during a hurricane (Spoto, 2012).
Upon further investigation by the Department of Environmental protection, it was found that the beaches built by the Army Corp of Engineers, contracted from 1994, held up well as well as dunes that formed naturally by wind over time as in the town of Barnegat Light on Long Beach Island (Sporto, 2012).
Dunes are made from sand and gravel from inland areas and placed on the beaches. The Army Corps of Engineers assesses the need and contracts the work. Many dune projects are under way in New Jersey after hurricane Sandy. The areas are Lower Cape May, Brigantine, Ocean City, Avalon and Stone Harbor in the South and Manaloking, Long Beach Island and Toms River in the north.
Much controversy has arisen from dune projects. The dunes need to be built on private property in most cases. The owners of these properties for the most part are cooperative. There are a handful of objectors. Their concerns range from obstruction of their view to a fear that once the easement is granted, a boardwalk and bathrooms will follow. In some shore towns, neighbors have begun fighting and publicly embarrassing the home owners that will not allow access to their land. The issue becomes property rights verses public good. If the dunes are not enlarged, more people will lose their property in the next storm. The New Jersey Superior Court has ruled that towns can take the property under eminent domain if the homeowner refused to cooperate (Zernike, 2013).
Whatever the outcome of this debate, one thing is for sure, there will be another storm. A common misconception is the 100 year storm. This does not mean it will come every hundred years, it means that there is a one percent chance of a storm that size.
After hurricane Sandy, the Jersey shore moved to a 2 percent chance of having the same storm. If we choose to live by the sea, we must plan accordingly and respect the power of our environment.
Video: http://video.foxnews.com/v/2700123652001/fight-over-protective-sand-dunes-in-new-jersey-/
References
New Jersey Geologic History. (2013). Retrieved October 29, 2013, from Stockton.edu: http://intraweb.stockton.edu/eyos/page.efm?siteID=149&pageID=3
Spoto, M. (2012, 11 18). Dune size determined extent of storm damage to NJ beaches. The Star Ledger.
Zernike, K. (2013, September 4). Trying to Shame Dune Holdouts at the Jersey Shore. The New York Times.
Bernadette Mooney